Economic Hardship: House Of Reps Members Slash Salaries By 50% To Fight Nationwide Hunger

Members of the house of representatives have resolved to slash their salaries by 50 percent due to the economic hardship that ravaged the country.

This was revealed during plenary on Thursday, following the adoption of a motion of urgent public importance.

The motion was titled: ‘An Appeal to the Proponents of Proposed Nationwide Protest to Maintain Peace, Eschew Violence and Open the Windows for Meaningful Engagements with Government at all Levels in Order to Address their Issues’.

It was sponsored by Ibrahim Isiaka from Ogun state.

Ben Kalu, deputy speaker, proposed the amendment, stating that it is a worthy sacrifice the legislators should make for the next six months.

He said the lawmakers earn N500,000 monthly.

He was corrected by Tajudeen Abbas, speaker of the house, who said they receive N600,000 in monthly salaries.

With each member paying N300,000 into a common purse, the legislative chamber will be contributing N108m monthly to the Federal Government and N648m for six months.

Osun Defender recalls that President Bola Tinubu had announced the removal of subsidy on petrol in his speech at his inauguration on 29 May, 2023.

Since then, the price of petrol has tripled across major cities from less than N200 per litre to about N700 per litre. This has also led to a huge increase in the costs of goods and services, further worsening the economic situation for millions of citizens.